Mark 14:58 in 8 translations
8 distinct wordings, grouped by what each translation is trying to do. Differences from the King James text are marked below.
Early modern English
Seventeenth-century wording and sentence shape. Familiar, rhythmic, and the version most quotations you have heard are taken from.
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
1611 / 1769 · Public domain · The Authorised Version, revised to the 1769 Blayney text. Includes the Apocrypha as printed in 1611.
Literal, word-for-word
Follows Hebrew and Greek word order and grammar closely, even where the English becomes stiff. Useful for seeing what the underlying sentence is doing.
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.
1901 · Public domain · The American revision of the English Revised Version. Deliberately literal, and the base text behind several later translations.
*We* heard him saying, *I* will destroy this temple which is made with hands, and in the course of three days I will build another not made with hands.
1890 · Public domain · John Nelson Darby's translation, made for close study rather than public reading. Often exposes grammatical detail other versions smooth over.
`We heard him saying--I will throw down this sanctuary made with hands, and by three days, another made without hands I will build;'
1898 · Public domain · The most extreme word-for-word rendering here, keeping Hebrew and Greek tense and word order at the cost of natural English.
Modern English
Contemporary vocabulary and punctuation, aiming for the sentence a present-day reader would write while staying close to the source.
“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”
2000s · Public domain · A modern-English update of the ASV. Reads close to contemporary speech while staying in the literal tradition. Includes the Apocrypha.
“We ourselves heard him say ‘I will destroy this Temple made with hands, and in three days build another made without hands.’”
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · A modern open-licensed translation, still being completed. Some Old Testament books are not yet available.
‘We ourselves heard him say “I will destroy this Temple made with hands, and in three days build another made without hands.”’
in progress · Public domain (CC0) · The Commonwealth spelling edition of the Open English Bible. Identical wording to the US edition apart from spelling.
Simplified English
Built from a deliberately small vocabulary so the sense stays reachable for new readers and non-native speakers. Trades nuance for clarity.
He said in our hearing, I will put an end to this Temple which is made with hands, and in three days I will make another without hands.
1949 · Public domain · Written with roughly a thousand basic English words plus a small Bible vocabulary. The plainest reading available here.
What changes between the King James and modern wording
The modern rendering is printed below with every word that differs from the King James text marked, so the actual divergence is visible rather than left for you to spot.
We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”
Word-for-word swaps
- within→in
The verses either side
King James text. A comparison is easier to judge when you can see the sentence the verse sits inside.